Followers of Sacramento’s underground hip-hop and spoken word circuits may recall the smooth, slick-talking voice of Rasar Amani, formerly Random Abiladeze. He was one of the kids behind the cash register at Dimple Records more than 10 years ago, the only MC on Sacramento sensation Joe Kye’s EP Joseph in the Well and a regular at local venues and colleges.

A call in 2013 from a close friend—world champion beatboxer and America’s Got Talent finalist Butterscotch—led Rasar to try his luck in Las Vegas. That call, Rasar says, forever changed his life. He credits Butterscotch for where he is today—the lead vocalist of one of Las Vegas’ top-rated new bands, The Lique.

Rasar wasn’t looking to join a band. He had completed a successful run in a nightclub show and was planning to leave Las Vegas last year when a friend told him about a group of local jazz musicians looking for an MC.

Guitarist Sean Carbone had a vision for a hip-hop jazz band. His University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) peers Jeremy Klewicki on drums and Nick Schmitt on bass joined him first. After offering the MC gig to Rasar, the group found Jason Corpuz (“the dopest piano player,” according to Rasar) and in the last year and a half, have scored a residency at a local club, toured venues like Brooklyn Bowl in New York, played music festivals and recorded the band’s debut album Democracy Manifest.

The Lique plays Harlow’s in Sacramento on Friday, Sept. 30 as main support at the album release show for Rituals of Mine (formerly known as Sister Crayon) with James Cavern opening the show. The following night, Saturday, Oct. 1, The Lique will head to Downieville, California to play at ZuhGFest, a grassroots festival at the Sierra Shangri-La Resort along the Yuba River.

Creation of The Lique and Democracy Manifest
Rasar says the guys didn’t know what kind of band The Lique was going to be when they formed. They started off playing his old tracks from the 10 albums he had recorded over the last decade, but as their fan base grew in a matter a months, the need for new material and a unique sound was evident. They had become THE hip-hop band in Las Vegas.

“We had the vision of being classy, wearing suits, having kind of a jazz feel,” he says. “We all got thrown in together and we knew we were musicians but it took a few weird talks about time and the fourth dimension and somehow politics and police brutality came up, but we had never talked about this stuff before over the four months we knew each other. When it came up, I thought, oh, we can go there? That changed the writing.”

Rasar’s past music is rife with political and social commentary, but he hesitated politicizing his fellow cats who just wanted to groove.

“But once we started talking about death and religion … now I write some challenging stuff,” he says. “That was a turning point in the kitchen.”

Bassist Nick Schmitt started writing riffs, building the jazz foundations of the tracks “Batman,” “Velveteen Dream” and “Nastiness.” This was The Lique’s first unique work.

To get a taste of what The Lique is all about, listen to the track “Billie’s Holiday.”

“It really shows what kind of band we are and goes to the heart of what we want to accomplish here,” Rasar says.

Hidden within the track are approximately 20 Billie Holiday songs. The song itself is about traveling, Rasar notes, and how we have to get away from our comfort zones.

The Lique’s look also has a backstory and its own track on the record. The last track, “The Suits,” was inspired directly by what Rasar, who functioned as the band’s manager and booker until recently, calls the “red tape, hierarchical b.s.” of the music industry.

“We’re a conundrum to the higher ups,” he says. “We’re underground, but we’re sophisticated enough that it confuses people. There’s a ton of suits out here—that’s why we wear suits, because it’s ironic. It comes from me traveling the world with Butterscotch and realizing people took me more seriously when I dressed up. So the whole thing is a big, fat wink in everybody’s faces.”

Rasar tells the story of an agent saying, “We gotta appease the suits” when he tried booking a gig. The funny phrase reminded him of a James Brown song called “Pass the Peas” and the Brown-inspired lyrics and riffs for “The Suits” was born.

The industry’s recent repressive ways are a bit of a theme on the album, and Rasar talks at length about 360 record deals that cause artists to lose themselves and their brand as executive greed takes over.

“Walk into my Office” speaks to that in an eerie, Mr. Grinch meets Led Zeppelin kind of way, through a blend of storytelling, characters, voice changes and rap. The song, like many of the others on the album, has multiple layers and side stories. It’s one of the most bizarre hip-hop tracks you’ll listen to this year. You may even have heard it already in one if its reincarnations.

“Walk into my Office” is a remake from a song Rasar did in 2010 in collaboration with Adambomb from New Orleans. Rasar’s (then known as Random Abiladeze) album Indubitably has the original version, which is two-and-a-half minutes long (the current version is more than six minutes).

“I showed the band the song and they loved it,” Rasar says. “We started exploring it, and I would start telling crazier and crazier stories live with it that were never recorded.”

A few obscure references pop up in the album version, including a growl tribute to “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin Jay Hawkins to honor him.

“I saw an awesome documentary on him on YouTube and he was a contemporary to Etta James, Stevie Wonder … all the original rock ‘n’ roll greats but was too weird and a one-hit wonder and fell off.”

The third theatrical verse in the song is also a tribute and intended for Dead Western, a dark folk/new American artist Rasar did a show with in Sacramento in 2008.

“He was one of the weirdest dudes I was ever paired with in my entire career and it was the best thing they could have done. You don’t really get a chance to do songs like this too many times in your entire life.”

(Note: Rasar has not been able to reach Dead Western to share the song, so, Dead Western, if you read this, contact Rasar).

Another standout track is “Democrashy Manifesht,” which juxtaposes Rasar’s compelling, often agitated lyrics of historical and political significance with the range and expertise of The Lique’s musicians. The backdrop could almost be a 1950s Las Vegas steakhouse, but without the veil in front of the realities of racism and power struggles.

Part of what went into the writing of “Democrashy Manifesht” is Rasar’s family background.

“My parents are older so I grew up on jazz, Motown, gospel, and my dad is from the old deep South, while segregation was still a thing,” he says. “He was born when WWII was rocking on, growing up around the Klan. Yes, I talk on current issues, but there are so many levels of how we got to where we are right now.”

“Democrashy Manifesht” is controversial, but The Lique finds engagement is an important part of their M.O.

“People are making noise but not impact,” Rasar says. “Every moment is potentially wasted if you’re not doing something toward progress and that’s what this album is about. How can we get all this genre bending, norms shifting, sounds and ideas out in 40 minutes without sounding rushed. The epitome of this band, this album, and the city of Las Vegas is how to fit an hour into 40 minutes.”

Collaborators on the Album
More than 20 people contributed sound to this album, including Rasar’s friend Butterscotch on the song “Soul for You.” Rasar credits her for making him the star he is today, connecting him globally through tours and appearances and bringing him to Las Vegas.

UC Davis alum Ruby Ibarra, one of Rasar’s best friends, is on “Nastiness.” DJ Mr. Vibe scratches on that song and he rolls with the Sacramento crew Sleepwalkers, who work with legendary crew, Hieroglyphics. Rasar reconnected with DJ Mr. Vibe when he moved to Vegas to head up music for the Jabawockeez show at MGM.

But for Rasar, the two biggest contributors to the album are sound engineer Dan Brodbeck and Bay Area hip-hop legend Zion-I.

“The unofficial sixth member of the band is Dan Brodbeck,” he says. “He is one of the best audio engineers in the world. He won a Juno [Canadian Grammy] and worked with Dolores O’Riordan from The Cranberries. We recorded in the back of an old vinyl record shop, which set the tone for the album.”

Zion-I is one of those people who is really big but you don’t know it until you see him, according to Rasar.

“Someone gave me his album in 2005 and it’s one of my top albums of all time,” he says. “I had a chance to open for him at Sac State and UC Davis years ago. When he was in Vegas last year, he remembered me. All of a sudden this person I had been looking up to all these years really wanted to connect with me as, it’s hard to say an equal, but we’re all equal as human beings. It was a dream come true.”

For Rasar, working with Zion-I was indication that he’s on the right path.

“The resilience that brings you back to the people you need to connect with, is what the song [Zion-I is on] is about, ‘The Frequency.’ The whole point is how your vibe attracts your tribe and that’s why we put him on the song. He always talks about that energy kind of like a hip-hop hippie.”

Learn more about The Lique and keep up with their tour dates at Thelique.com or at Facebook.com/theliqueband. Check out their debut album Democracy Manifest via the Bandcamp player below.

Rasar’s break from Sacramento gave him plenty to write home about

Words by Andrew Bell • Photo by Sonia Seelinger

When you’ve spent years as an artist getting the local media and venue owners to support you and you’ve built up a solid fan base that supports your music, what reason would you have to leave? This was the question staring Rasar (formerly Random Abiladeze) in the face almost a year and a half ago. On the other end of the phone was legendary beatbox innovator, and close personal friend, Butterscotch with an invite to Sin City that he couldn’t refuse.

When Rasar left for Las Vegas in December 2013, his path was unclear to a lot of his fans. It turns out this was because it was still a little unclear to himself. Trusting that path would lead him from being an usher to the ringleader of a renowned Las Vegas side show stage complete with aerialists, stunts and circus acts.

“It’s a long, crazy story of late nights, a $40 million budget, celebrities, a woman who shot an arrow with her feet and a man who could fit himself through two tennis rackets while dropping life-changing philosophy,” Rasar says of his time as part of the Vegas Nocturne show at The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino’s Rose. Rabbit. Lie. supper club.

After a stop at SXSW, and on the heels of his recent release of “Viral Video” on Youtube, Rasar is returning to a Sacramento stage for the first time in over a year May 9 at Harlow’s for Joseph in the Well’s release party. Before that, you can check him out in Davis on April 30 at Sophia’s Thai Kitchen. One can only imagine how Rasar’s already electric stage show has grown since finding residency on the Las Vegas Strip.

Offstage, Rasar is reserved and contemplative, more likely to talk about the destruction of Alexandria’s libraries than the latest club banger (although he IS the one who put me on to Lil’ B. Thank you, Based God). Yet in the time since we last spoke, he has become the centerpiece of a modern vaudevillian circus side show.

I caught up with Rasar to talk about his new band The Lique, the current cultural climate for hip-hop artists with a positive message, how Sacramento prepared him for Sin City … and of course, to get some gambling advice.

{Photo by Butterscotch}

How do you think Sacramento prepared you for taking on Sin City?
I’ve always said that Sacramento is a great place to hone your craft and move on, so it definitely prepared me for bringing the goods. I’m getting more into the local scene of Vegas, but I still say that Sacramento has a much more cohesive, growing scene with more talent per capita. There are tons of talented people in Vegas, but there’s just not nearly as strong of a series of movements among locals right now. I’ve been more focused on traveling the world than just being a local all over again, though.
On that note, Sacramento did not prepare me for the amount of opportunities that truly exist across the world. The downside of coming up in Sacramento is that you can get either too comfortable or jaded to realize it’s time to move. It was hard to leave because I had so many good things going there, why would I leave? Getting out of your comfort zone is essential to success. When you step your game up, you find yourself having to summarize over a decade of work into a 10-second elevator pitch.
No one cares much about what I did in my hometown two to 10 years ago. It’s all about what you’re doing now and what have you done that’s nationally or internationally recognized. I don’t like this part of the business, but it’s true.

How has Vegas influenced you as a performer?
Vegas influenced me to step up my showmanship. Everyone on the strip is awesome at what they do. You really have no choice but to set yourself apart. I actually stood out with a more refined approach than the loud insanity that everyone expects from all the bright lights, but I know to get the crowd going.

What’s the next move for Rasar?
I’m on my Cali Is Home Tour April 29 through May 16, 2015. I’m doing at least 13 shows in 17 days. No sweat. Joseph in the Well’s new album features me on “Happy Song,” which we’re soon shooting a video for. I have two duo albums produced entirely, yet separately by two Sacramento-area producers. Tesla Carver with Medl4 is an album I wrote last year and features Poor of Tribe of Levi. I just need to record.
The other album is the long-awaited album with Styles 1001 under the group name Mellow Nine. That album is called Divine Science. Nine songs never took so long. It will be well worth the wait. That album will feature Sean LaMarr of DLRN, Poor, Annie Jay and possibly another feature.
I just want to tour the world. I’m tired of staying anywhere too long. I need to be on the road.

You’ve always had a socially conscious message. Do you feel it is getting easier or harder to promote positivity in the current industry climate?
Speaking of Mellow Nine and our album Divine Science. Now that Kendrick [Lamar]’s To Pimp a Butterfly has opened so many eyes, our album will make even more sense. I think with D’Angelo, J.Cole, Kendrick, Janelle Monae’s Wondaland Records, specifically Jidenna, there is no question that people are ready for the real again and that being unabashedly black in your music, showing our humanity and sophistication alongside our struggles is currently hot.
I believe most people are humans still, but we need to step out of this post-race utopian lie where one’s ethnicity and genetic heritage should be swept under the rug to fuel some off-base false-hippie nonsense about color-blindness. Just because I love being black doesn’t mean I dislike others that aren’t. That’s what the music I rock with today is saying, and that’s what I’m feeling. I don’t have to make everything about race. I know people like to say it doesn’t exist but I’m not going to hide from it. The music industry is foul, point blank. It’s up to us to make a difference through embracing who we are, all walks of life, and seeing ourselves as world citizens who don’t have to apologize for living our lives how we want as long as it doesn’t directly hurt anyone else. I’m more into spirit than the material world, but I have to find a way to marry those worlds through my Word.

Tell me more about The Lique. 
The Lique is a dream come true. My new band based in Las Vegas has come up quite nicely in just a matter of months thanks to their dedication and talent driven by my vision and incessant effort to expand the reach. I didn’t even ask for this directly. The guitarist, Sean Carbone, asked around for original lyricists and I had already put in enough work in the Vegas underground to be the first person recommended from a highly respected source in that scene, Rahmaan Phillip. We’re jazz-based hip-hop that extends into funk, psychedelic, metal and R&B. I even do Michael McDonald and James Brown impersonations during our sets. It’s funny, poignant and classy. Above all, it’s a soulful project. We mostly play my solo material and remix hip-hop covers, but we’re building our original material. The Lique is pronounced “leak” and I came up with the name based on a funny incident from touring Switzerland with Butterscotch last year.

Any last message for Sacramento upon your triumphant return?
Sacramento, it’s been a long time coming, but I’m so glad to be coming home! I love Sacramento so much and have learned to appreciate it so much more now that I’ve finally taken this musical mojo across the globe. I still keep in touch with many people there and I miss all the vegetation. I live in the godforsaken desert. You don’t realize how amazing it is to be surrounded by so much greenery. [Pauses] I don’t mean that kind! I can’t wait to see all my people May 9 at Harlow’s with Joseph in the Well and Ike Torres! Thank you for supporting me both as a local and now that I’ve left the nest. I always rep Sac Town on every single stage I hit no matter where I am in the world. 916 til the end!

Should I put my money on black or red?
Substantia nigra.

Rasar returns with two area performances. First up at Sophia’s Thai Kitchen in Davis on April 30, 2015 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 for this 21-and-over show. He will then play Sacramento’s Harlow’s on May 9, 2015, an all-ages show that gets underway at 7 p.m. Tickets for that performance are $10 and can be purchased through Harlows.com.

Local alt-rock/hip-hop/soul group Iconoclast Robot is following up their solid 2012 full-length The Reti Opening with a brand new 6-track EP called BrightLights/DarkDepths. Citing influences ranging from The Roots to Radiohead to Rage Against the Machine, Iconoclast Robot have been steadily building a name for themselves in the local scene ever since forming in 2011, having since scored gigs at Concerts In the Park, Ace of Spades and many other reputable venues and events. Their new EP was recorded in September and October at Freqy Music Studio and was engineered and produced by Andrew Lozano. It features some stellar guest performers from the likes of emcee extraordinaire Rasar (formerly Random Abiladeze), violin work from Joe Kye (of the local band Joseph in the Well), as well as appearances from Zebulon and Danny Franco.

“The EP BrightLights/DarkDepths is cinematic soundscapes, symphonic backdrops,” guitarist Russell Boucher told Submerge. “Lyrically it’s driven by authority/political figures, religious pitfalls and found/failed love.”

Iconoclast Robot is throwing one helluva release show at Assembly (1000 K Street, Sacramento) on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014, with support from local heavy hitters James Cavern and the Council, DLRN, and Good Samaritans. Doors open at 8 p.m., all ages are welcome, and the cover is $12 at the door ($10 in advance). This will likely be one of the last shows at Assembly for a while, as word recently got out that the venue’s current operators (the peeps from Ace of Spades) are vacating the space at the end of November and are looking to purchase/operate a new venue sometime soon (more on that later!). No word yet on who will take over the Assembly space after November. In the meantime, visit Iconoclastrobot.com for more information on this talented local group.

Here is your first look at the 2013 Concerts in the Park lineup. Last summer saw record setting attendance for the Friday night series and by the looks of it this year shouldn’t be any different. Here is what we’re particularly stoked about: local hip-hop from the likes of Rasar, Live Manikins, DLRN and a couple others. Also Kill the Precedent is one of our absolute local favorites and we didn’t expect to see them on the listing at all, as they are rather heavy and in-your-face. And of course we’re pumped to see !!! (Chk Chk Chk) headlining a night not long after their new record THR!!!ER comes out. The Mother Hips are closing one night and they also have a new record out soon, same goes for Middle Class Rut. All in all it’s a pretty solid lineup in our opinion, but hey, what do we know? Best of all, the shows are all free. Let us know which bands you are excited about!

May 3rd:
Element Of Soul
Musical Charis
They Went Ghost
DJ Epik

May 10th:
Middle Class Rut
Jonny Craig
Dogfood
I’m Dirty Too
RCK:RMX (Blackheart+Buckdog)

May 17th:
Arden Park Roots
Syncro
Rasar (formerly Random Abiladeze)
Live Manikins
DJ Whores

May 24th:
James Cavern
Iconoclast Robot
Rock N’ Rhyme
DLRN
Heartworm

May 31st:
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
Exquisite Corps
Paper Pistols
Sam I Jam

June 7th:
Mumbo Gumbo
The Quinn Hedges Band
Tel Cairo

June 14th:
Infamous Swanks
The Lesdystics
Avenue Saints
The Bar Fly Effect
Shaun Slaughter

June 21st:
Mother Hips
Jackpot
The Old Screen Door
Roger Carpio

June 28th:
Brodie Stewart
Nevada Backwards
The Carly DuHain Band
Big Trouble
DJ Rigatoni

NO SHOW JULY 5th

July 12th:
ZuhG
Joy & Madness
Harley White Jr. Orchestra
DJ Oasis and INKDUP

July 19th:
FallRise
Kill the Precedent
Restrayned
Fair Struggle
Z Rokk

July 26th:
The Brodys
Hero’s Last Mission
The Bell Boys
Humble Wolf
DJ Billy Lane

Out with the old: Local rapper extraordinaire Random Abiladeze has changed his name to Rasar. In an email sent out to fans and friends in early December titled, “No More Random Abiladeze…” (which for a split second made us really nervous), he thanked everyone for their support over the years and announced the name change. “As of Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, I have officially changed [my name] to RASAR. The short version of its meaning has to do with the Kemetic (Egyptian) deities Ra and Asar and the fact that my former initials were already RA.” He went on to point out that he’s working on a few releases under the new moniker, including a free solo EP titled The Dream Is Over, which will be released in early 2013, as well as a “highly transformative duo album” called Divine Science, which will be completely produced by Styles 1001.

“We will release it under the group name Mellow Nine,” he said. Later, on his Facebook page, he further explained the new name.

“Rasar just resonates with me,” he wrote. “Aside from the mystical/mythical inspiration, it’s just time for change. Rasar is simpler and more connected to my purpose as an edutainter. I had my former name for nine years and that cycle has completed. The next chapter is now unfolding for all who care to walk with me a while.”

Call him Random Abiladeze, call him Rasar, call him whatever you want, we’ll just simply call him one of Sacramento’s best.

If you’re not familiar with the artists we chose to perform at our 100th Issue Party on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 at Ace of Spades, first off, where the hell have you been? Living under a rock? Anywho, if you don’t know who they are, see the vitals below and be sure to type the URLs into your fancy little computer devices. Prepare to be inundated with awesome-ness, because, well, we know how to pick ‘em! See you at the show.

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Down tempo (yet intense) indie rock/trip-hop. Operatic and dramatic female vocals, mixture of live drums and programmed percussion with keys, synths, guitar, the whole nine.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Portishead, The XX, MGMT
Bragging Rights: Signed to Manimal Vinyl Records, recently toured with The Album Leaf. Has been featured everywhere from Showtime to Nylon magazine.
Listen/Learn More: Sistercrayon.com, Facebook.com/sistercrayon

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Spastic, experimental-rock featuring insane guitar work (two-handed finger tapping, tons of effects pedals, etc.) and non-traditional song structures.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Hella, The Flaming Lips, Don Caballero
Bragging Rights: Signed to Sargent House, countless U.S. tours, played Forbidden Fruit Fest in Ireland this year with The Flaming Lips and Aphex Twin.
Listen/Learn More: Teramelosmusic.com, Facebook.com/teramelosmusic

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Fun, catch-y, space-y/psychedelic garage-rock.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Thee Oh Sees, Wavves, Beach Boys
Bragging Rights: Affiliated record labels include Lefse, Woodsist, Captured Tracks and Souterrain Transmissions. Ganglians will be an official showcasing artist at 2012’s SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.
Listen/Learn More: Facebook.com/ganglians

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Jam-y funk-rock with reggae roots. Extended jam sessions and dance-offs are common occurrences during ZuhG sets.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Phish, O.A.R., Grateful Dead
Bragging Rights: They run their own local music/art/clothing store. Countless tours, tons of positive press, multiple SAMMIES awards.
Listen/Learn More: Zuhgmusic.com

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Intelligent hip-hop rich with satire and dry wit meets real turntablism.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Nas, Talib Kweli, Gang Starr
Bragging Rights: Winner of numerous spoken-word and rap awards/competitions. Has shared the stage with Nas, Immortal Technique, Tech N9Ne, Zion-I, Living Legends and more.
Listen/Learn More: Randomab.com, Randomabiladeze.bandcamp.com

Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
For Fans Of: Extremely catch-y and well-written pop-rock fit for an arena setting.
You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Muse, Coldplay, The Killers
Bragging Rights: Music has been featured in multiple MTV shows/commercials including, The Real World, True Life, Made and Real World Road Rules Challenge to name a few.
Listen/Learn More: Earlystates.com

Tickets Available @ ZuhG Life Store, Dimple Records, The Beat, Armadillo (Davis)
Online: AceOfSpadesSac.com
By Phone: 1.877.GND.CTRL or 916.443.9202

Live Manikins conquer distractions to focus on new album, Full Canvas

As DJ Rated R put the scratch to his crewmates’ reflections on the intro to Live Manikins’ Full Canvas record, the rappers speak with disbelief about their three-year lapse between albums. “I’m sitting here looking at the credits and the album cover and there’s a lot of growing up,” he said. If the hip-hop group’s first record, Still Life, was merely a snapshot or Polaroid, Full Canvas is the result of three years spent revising the portrait in the midst of what one of the group’s members, Self, calls real life shit.

In its earlier days, Live Manikins was a mainstay at Second Saturday events at Revive, The Body Shop and United State boutique, at which they were one of the first hip-hop crews to host events without drawing suspicions from Sacramento’s law enforcement. “We always coordinated with local businesses,” rapper J-RockIT said. “We threw shows right outside with DJs. When Second Saturday finally started blowing, it would just get packed.”

Self said the crew found sanctity in a specialized wording of the event, so that it never got shut down. “There was once a time we couldn’t even perform because we were hip-hop,” he said. “We’d bill it as spoken word artists with a funk rock background. That was our work around. But we also brought hella different bands just to fool the police.”

Live Manikins’ debut Still Life earned the crew numerous accolades and local bragging rights, but the Manikins put an immediate follow-up record aside to pursue solo projects. Linguistics, who goes by Mr. Lingo these days, dropped Anybody Want a Peanut? in 2010, which earned him a Sammie nomination. Self split time between Sacramento and Los Angeles recording his solo record. J-RockIT and Runt Rock formed Live Audible Soul, later renaming the group DefRockIT, and took their EP as far as the Philippines.

While Rated R won DJ contests, toured the West Coast with Random Abiladeze, formed a DJ crew called Sleeprockers and started a DJ night at Capitol Garage called Joints and Jams. For Rated R, the experiences came in such a whirlwind that Self kept reminding his DJ of the events, to which he replied, “Wow… I forgot already.”

The good-ole-days summation reads like a storybook: three years of continued success, but each storyline was eventually mired in tribulations that led each member back to the group project–well, except for one. After the release of Anybody Want a Peanut?, Mr. Lingo brought his own peanut into the world. As Live Manikins began to regroup for a follow-up record, Lingo chose to remain an auxiliary member to focus on his family. “We understand especially since it’s their first kid,” J-RockIT said. “It’s happened with a couple of our friends in the past who’ve done music. And then they come back when they’re ready.”

Self did record portions of his solo record (due in the spring) in Los Angeles, but he also lost his job at Hewlett-Packard and made vague mentions of an incident with the law in Seattle, while listing his trials. “After I lost my job at HP, mentally I wasn’t strong enough,” he said. “I’d never had to go through the loss of a job, losing investments…shit, I lost a lot. I had to get over it and find myself once again.”

Touring the Philippines in 2009 should have been a golden opportunity for J-RockIT, Runt Rock and DJ Rated R, but a car accident nearly claimed the group’s lives. The brakes gave out on their vehicle. sending Rated R, who was in the backseat, through a window. He sustained major head and spinal injuries as well as a broken collarbone and clavicle. Rated R fully recovered, but still bears a large scar on his forehead from the incident. “It’s right there in the mirror, every morning to keep on doing it,” he said.

J-RockIT continued, “My wife was with us and a couple other people. That was a big calling. It was hard on the whole crew when we got back. After things settled it turned into ‘let’s do it.’”

Live Manikins was never defunct in the passing years. Songs were casually recorded and archived; each member made appearances on the solo records. The group would get together for one-off shows, opening for nationally touring acts and billed slots at festivals. The members joked, though, of a divide which made the performances less about Manikins. “Me and Gabe [Runt Rock] would work DefRockIT stuff into the Live Manikins shows,” J-RockIT admitted, since his group had a new EP. Self chimed in, “Yeah, y’all strong armed us. He would suggest things like, ‘Let’s do this track,’ and I’d come back with, ‘That’s not even a Live Manikins track,’ and he’d say, ‘But we’re both in it.’”

The accruement of value-altering, trying events led to the solo Manikins’ regrouping. “We had a moment of reflection and remembered that we’d built something,” Self said. “We had a lot of sit downs that led to kicking it, hanging out and freestyling. After a couple times it just became apparent we can rock.”

Even with the lack of focus, the group recorded 30 to 40 songs to consider for the sophomore record. Full Canvas in final cut form is 15 songs deep. Largely produced by Runt Rock, Full Canvas explores a live sound aesthetic, but maintains close ties to hip-hop’s roots in flipping samples. Gritty funk licks propel the production, while subtle sonic tweaking prevents the beats from falling into static lapses. “Sleepy” is the oldest track to make the album, but it was still adjusted throughout the years from its original form. J-RockIT said the album title came from “focusing on ourselves to create this new chemistry.”

“It was almost like a piece of all of us,” he said. “So the title represents the completion. Within the last year everybody got super motivated. You can hear the passion in all of our voices. ”

Outside production came from DJ Epik, Resource and Thiago Prodigo, who is from Brazil, while Random Abiladeze offers a guest verse on “Heights.” The group recorded in several studios around the Greater Sacramento area, including downtown, Visalia, Rocklin and Elk Grove–the home of their new label Freqy Music Group. With Live Manikins’ reestablished focus and individual growth the problems surrounding them were reduced to molehills, or in some cases, snake holes. While recording in Rocklin, the worst that happened to Self involved a smoke break incident. “There’s snakes way out there,” Self said. “One of the sessions I was out smoking a cigarette with Runt Rock and I looked down and there was snake. I’m not used to that being in the neighborhood. I’m fine with loose dogs, but not loose snakes.”

Rated R chided him with, “What, was it a green garden snake?”

Self, getting worked up, responded, “It was brown. It wasn’t a green garter snake. It was like… [stretches arms out to indicate its alarming size].”

Touring plans are in the works, but Live Manikins’ primary focus is their album release party on Thursday at Harlow’s. The group secured sponsorships from Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Scratch Live, among others. The purchase of exclusive VIP tickets means swagbags and a catered pre-party. Mr. Lingo is joining Manikins on stage as well. “We’ve been training…hard,” Self said. “Hours and hours and hours per week. I want to crowd surf. That’s my goal. I want to feel confident to be a six-five, 200-pound guy who won’t jump out and just crush one girl.”

Live Manikins will throw the Full Canvas album release party at Harlow’s on Nov. 17, 2011. The show will get underway at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through Harlows.com and will cost $10 for general admission and $20 for VIP tickets, which will include a swagbag and a catered pre-party.

One of my favorite Sacramento MCs, TAIS, is no longer on hiatus. ‘Bout damn time! He’ll play his first official show in what feels like years on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m. at the University Union Serna Plaza on Sacramento State’s campus. If you can’t make that one because you’ve “got a job” or whatever, at least take it as a good sign that TAIS and his live music crew, including drummer (and Submerge food/drink writer) Adam Saake, are creating music together again. Submerge caught TAIS hosting the recent Random Abiladeze album release show at Blue Lamp and the two performed the track “Don’t Be Fooled” off of Random’s new album Indubitably and it was on-point! It was definitely one of the highlights of the night, right up there with the jaw-dropping performance from female MC extraordinaire Ruby Ibarra, who performed at Rock the Bells the following day. Keep an eye out for more TAIS shows and new tunes at Taismusic.com

Random Abiladeze is wise beyond his years. It’s hard to deny the truth behind most of his songs and even harder to deny the amount of talent this young man has. His newest full-length album, Brutally Honest, deserves your undivided attention. Random will celebrate the release of the album on May 9 at the Main Street Brewery in Roseville with a party that is sure to be off the hook. The young hip-hop artist was nice enough to take some time out of his rigorous schedule to answer of few of our questions.

To start things off, explain a little about yourself. How long have you been rapping? What got you started?
I first rhymed in 1998 on a dare to freestyle because I was the square from the suburbs. I took it very serious in Feb 1999—inspired by Slick Rick’s verse on “The Art of Storytelling Pt.2″ with Outkast; that was my favorite single at the time.

You rap about some very mature subjects for a young man who’s just 22 years old. Why do you think you grew up so quickly?
I’m old school. Not ’80s or even ’70s. I am 1940s to 1960s old school because I have older parents than most people my age, especially my dad. Both my parents were raised by families from the Deep South—many of those mannerisms and thinking patterns were passed on to me. Also, I read all the time and have always been a nerd. I’m pretty sure taking martial arts as a kid has a lot to do with my outlook on life. I’m an old man trapped in this physical vehicle. It’ll all make sense when I’m 79 or so.

Along with being a hip-hop artist you are a well seasoned, award winning spoken word poet. How does your music and spoken word stuff coincide?
My first public poetry experiences were at Sacramento’s legendary Mahogany Poetry Series, in 2004. I was advised by Miss Marianna to try my rhymes in front of that crowd because they would be open to hearing the conscious themes I have rhymed about for years. I’ve entered slams and used my raps; it’s the same message—only thing that really changes is the frequency of rhyme.

I want to talk about your new album, Brutally Honest. It’s 17 tracks chock-full of extremely conscious lyrics on all levels: politically, socially, spiritually, etc. How long has this record been in the works?
I knew that I was in Brutally Honest creation mode around October 2006. I had the beats for “Lay the Foundation” and “Don’t Stop It” since that time. Some of my verses are actually from when I was 16 (“True Master” and third verse on “Lay the Foundation”). “Wake Up Call” is actually a remix from an unreleased original. That was one of the first songs I performed in Sacramento, back in January 2005. I say this to highlight the fact that I’ve been thinking this way for a long time. I learned more things as I went along, but I had most of these ideas when I was in high school, even junior high at times. The difference between what I write now and then is my greater understanding of what I’m actually talking about. In the past, I knew things were crazy, but I was searching for ways to properly articulate my concerns.

You included a spoken word poem on the album entitled “Read,” and at the very end you say, “When you read between the lines you got a reason to raise your fist, so my people, please read!“ What texts have proven to be the most influential in your life?
In terms of confidence, knowledge of self, spirituality, it all started with Wayne Dyers’ Pulling Your Own Strings. I read that my senior year of high school and have been doing so ever since I read it. There are some monstrous texts I’ve tackled that have utterly changed my entire being. The Biggest Secret by David Icke, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Soledad Brother by George Jackson, Infinite Self by Stuart Wilde, Twelve Universal Laws of Success by Herbert Harris, Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh, Rebirth of Gods by Paul Goss. That’s not even the half of it. I love reading so much that I wish I could get paid for it. I love reading more than experiencing life sometimes. Not just because it’s an escape, but also because it often feels realer than what I see in the world. Reading has been the gateway to so many gifts in my life. People often ask me about how I get into certain things in the music business”¦it’s because I’ve taken the time to study what you need to do be successful in life. I am by no means rich, but I take care of business with what I have. I Don’t Need a Record Deal! by Daylle Deanna Schwartz is the single most important book I have ever read when it comes to music business as an independent artist. That and Wisdom for a Young Musician by Bruce Warren have kept me completely focused and shown me so many things that have proven to be very rewarding.

Do you think there will ever be a point in your career/life that you’d call it quits and put down the microphone for good?
I can easily see myself not rapping forever, and even putting it to the side as a young man. Hip-hop has been a part of my life since youth, and it always will be. I was just an excited fan who decided that, “Hey, I can do this, too.” I will most likely become an author; I already do public speaking and youth outreach throughout California, and I’ve always been pretty dramatic, so acting is almost bound to happen. I am living my dream right now. I’m watching everything happen and I’m just happy to be here and in control of my art. This is the epitome of what I want my life to be. Everything happens for a reason, even though most don’t understand how or refuse to believe it. If I died today, my life has been lived the way I always wanted it to be; I am being myself. I send many thanks to God for that everyday.